The Beauty of Bolivia

The transportation push to the border of Brazil/Bolivia was a long one. We took a 15 hour overnight bus, then bought a second bus ticket and an hour later boarded an 8 hour bus that took us to the border town of Corumba. Unfortunately we arrived too late as the border had closed for the day (who closes a border at 1PM?). We awoke the next day and headed to the bus station where Brazilian immigration gave us our exit stamp (why it is not done at the actual border I have no idea), and then caught a local bus to the Bolivian border.

We had heard horror stories about Americans crossing into Bolivia. At the end of 2007 Bolivia decided that Americans should pay a $135 fee to enter and word on the street was that if you did not have all of your correct paperwork (copy of passport, yellow fever vaccination, proof of sufficient funds, onward travel documentation, etc.) in hand that they would demand an even higher sum. We were not about to let that happen, so we came prepared. Surprisingly, absolutely none of our prep work was necessary. As we walked into the immigration office the ’officials’ looked up, asked for our passports and then broke out huge smiles. “American!” they yelled. “You must pay $135 each!!!!” When we nodded ‘yes’ expressionless. They seemed even more excited that we did not put up a fight and gave us the visa paperwork to fill out. As we handed over the cash there was much happy chatter accompanied by even bigger smiles as the official smelled the money, held it up in the air and yelled triumphantly, “dollars!” That was when we realized that every worker in the room was going home with A LOT of money that day. Obviously they don’t get many Americans through this border crossing. Aside from that, the workers were very nice to us, even asking Chad to translate some English writing for them from another person's application. We walked out of the office and into Bolivia $270 poorer but with a valid 5 year visa, just in case we want to book a return visit!

A quick 15 minute cab ride brought us to the dusty quiet town of Quijarro where “The Death Train” was waiting on it’s tracks to take us to Santa Cruz. Yes, our next mode of transportation was nicknamed “The Death Train”. We were lucky enough to get on the train that afternoon and avoided another night at the border. We were welcomed by a broken air conditioner in our carriage and hordes of sweaty people transporting all sorts of goods. Lucky for us, that was the worst of our journey and the ‘Death Train’ had more bark than bite. It was slightly entertaining as it rattled down the tracks at an incredibly slow pace, shaking and swaying as if it would fall to one side at any minute. We spent 15 hours bouncing about, but we did get to enjoy a few Hollywood movies dubbed over in Spanish and a freezing cold night as the air conditioner finally decided it was going to work overtime.

We arrived in Santa Cruz, the second largest city in Bolivia, completely exhausted from our past week and in need of some decent sleep and a shower. We were excited to finally be in Bolivia and even more excited to see a good friend of ours Brian Asby, who happened to be working in Santa Cruz for a few weeks. We could not believe our luck that the timing worked out and we decided to spend a few extra days in Santa Cruz to catch up. Santa Cruz was a pleasant city with a central plaza and streetside cafes. The weather was nice and we were able to catch up on internet, laundry and some good meals. We met up with Brian a couple different nights and shared travel stories and got updates on life back in the USA. It actually felt like a little slice of home as we sipped some cold beers and reminisced, something I think all three of us really appreciated!

Santa Cruz was pleasant and comfortable but we bid Brian farewell and decided to head into the countryside to see a different side of Bolivia. Our destination was the small village of Samaipata, tucked into the Bolivian mountains a 3 hour taxi ride outside Santa Cruz (total cost of taxi was about $7!). Upon arrival in Samaipata we immediately felt like we may have found a future home for us. Within our first hours of being in town we had gone for a run and found a cozy little bar serving microbrews and Samaipata jumped to one of our favorite small towns of the trip without trying. The town was picture perfect in every way, a village that had not been found yet by the masses of backpackers roaming South America.

We spent 3 days in Samaipata, and loved every single second if it. We visited the local market daily, buying fruit and vegetables from the indigenous women. We wandered up and down the cobbelstone streets, petting the many sleeping dogs, popping into cafes and shops, sitting in the park plaza and taking photos of the old buildings and churches. At night there were some very cool pubs to visit and we treated ourselves to one of the best meals of our trip at a local restaurant that served fresh, organic vegetarian food. We didn’t just stick in town though. We ventured to a nearby national park on a tour with a Spanish speaking guide and three 50 year olds from Spain. The views were amazing and the hiking trails great, but let’s just say that we don’t speak Spanish and were in MUCH better shape than the chain smoking Spaniards.

Samaipata solidified our love for Bolivia. The country is dirt cheap, the people are friendly, the food is decent (okay not decent if you are a vegetarian), there are more things to do than days in the month and they produce wine in the southwest that can be had for under 3 dollars a bottle. Bolivia has definitely caught our attention. Maybe we will be using that 5 year visa in the future after all.